Hana Ryū: Naruto
by s15945
Summary: One day a six year old Naruto bursts into the Hokage's office demanding training. The Sandaime Hokage refuses, but a visiting shinobi from the Land of Vegetables disagrees with the Hokage's decision and convinces him to allow her to train Naruto.
1. Hana Ryū: Sayuri

In this story Mabui is actually Naruto's age.

* * *

><p>"Hey Jiji!" Naruto yelled as loud as he could at the Hokage.<p>

The Sandaime asked, "Naruto? What is it this time?"

"Teach me."

"Eh?" the Sandaime asked, not understanding the young blonde's request.

"Teach me, you know, ninjutsu and stuff."

"Ninjutsu? What brought this on?"

"The clans have started teaching their kids ninjutsu already. It's not fair that they get to learn and I don't."

The Sandaime sighed and said, "I'm sorry Naruto, I can't do that."

"What?...But why?" Naruto questioned.

"You see Naruto, most of my time is taken up making sure that this village functions as it is supposed to. I simply don't have the time to do so, besides, even if I did I still couldn't train you."

"Eh? Why not?"

Hiruzen sighed and said, "As Hokage I cannot be seen to be giving favouritism to any one shinobi, I'm sorry, but for those in public office, appearance is often more important than personal desire." As Hiruzen was conveying to Naruto his regrets he was thinking 'Besides, if I did the attacks against you would probably increase. The best way I can protect both you and the village right now is to leave you powerless.' Sarutobi sighed and asked, "Was that all?" Naruto turned around and ran out of the Hokage's office crying.

As Naruto was requesting training from the Hokage there was a team of shinobi from the Land of Vegetables in the office requesting Konoha's assistance in returning their Daimyo's daughter back to them. One of them asked, "Hokage-sama is what that blonde gaki said true?"

Hiruzen sighed and replied, "Unfortunately yes. The clans here in Konoha tend to hold their children's lives in higher regard than other families' children and tend to start teaching their children clan ninjutsu before they enter the academy. This, of course, tends to result in the clans' children excelling in their studies throughout the academy and leaving the others in their wake. The Yondaime tried to change that and put a halt to the clans' starting to train their kids before they enter the academy, but, as you can imagine, that didn't really go over too well and, when he died, before I could be reinstated the ninja council undid all of his work."

"I see," the ninja said. "Hey, Taichō," he said, turning to the team leader "would it be possible for me to take some time off while we're here?"

"Hmm," the ninja's team leader said, "very well, you can stay here and teach that boy some ninjutsu if you want...provided it's alright with the Hokage of course."

The first ninja that talked looked at the Hokage for permission. Hiruzen, after thinking it over for a few minutes, replied "very well, although I would like you to run what you teach him by me first if that's acceptable."

"Of course" the ninja said.

"Then I see no reason why not, what would you be teaching him first, if you have any ideas?" The ninja stood up and walked over to the bookshelf and, picking a flower up, out of the vase, and holding it in her palm before it levitated and flew towards the Hokage before embedding into the desk in front of him. Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes widened in shock at what the foreign ninja had just done. "Interesting," Sarutobi said, "So, what do you call it?"

"Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō, it is one of my family's jutsu."

"I see. Very well, you can teach him that, any other jutsu will need to be run by me as well...oh yes, Naruto is very cunning and will no doubt surprise you, both at the rate he may pick something up, but certainly in the way that he uses anything you teach him."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm..." just then there was a yell outside of 'who could possibly think of defacing the Hokage monument in such a way!' Hiruzen sighed and said, "If you look at the Hokage monument, you will no doubt see what I mean." The team of ninja from the Land of Vegetables stood up and looked out the window and, sure enough, all of the Hokage faces, minus the Yondaime's, had neon orange paint covering them. Saying that they thought that it was amusing that a six year old could do such a thing without anyone knowing that he was doing it would be a gross understatement, they burst out laughing. "Well, if you would like to wait here I'll call in a team that will retrieve your Daimyo's daughter."

"Thank you, Hokage-dono," the team leader said.

"In the meantime, you are welcome to stay in the Hokage mansion while you are in Konoha training Naruto."

"I couldn't do somethin..."

"Nonsense, it is the least I could do, besides, there's only me living there now and it is far too big for one person."

"Well, alright then."


	2. Hana Ryū: Naruto

When the Jounin, Sayuri, found Naruto he was crying his eyes out and relating what had just occurred to two people that owned a Ramen Stand. She heard the old man behind the counter say, "Well I'm truly sorry about that Naruto, but it's like this. For arguments sake, if you take a bowl of ramen, is it as good without the noodles as it is with them?"

"No."

"The Hokage is the figurehead of Konoha."

"Figurehead?"

"Yes. A figurehead is a person that seems to have a lot of political power to the outside world, except really doesn't. You see the Hokage is like the ramen in the example that I was using. The Hokage needs the people on both the civilian and shinobi councils to run the village in general while he takes care of all of the upper-tier shinobi issues, like maintaining peace within the Hidden Villages. That's also why the chosen Hokage are always the strongest in the village. They act as a deterrent against the other villages."

"I see," Naruto said, thinking, '_Gee whiz, there's more to this Hokage gig than I thought._'

The Jounin that had practically demanded that she be able to train Naruto, Sayuri, entered the ramen stand after hearing the chef's analogy as to the Hokage's role and the ease of which he had calmed Naruto down. As she entered she thought, '_Well, I'm lucky that that old man was here, I don't know how I'd have gone about trying to calm him down._' She sat down and asked, "Six bowls of Shio Ramen please."

Naruto looked at the woman sitting next to him in wonder and asked, "Hey nee-chan, you understand that ramen is the food of the gods, right?"

"Of course, anybody who doesn't does not deserve to call themselves...hmm...I don't know."

"You're kind of weird nee-chan."

Sayuri face-faulted, her shoulders gaining a dramatic slant, she said, "Geez thanks Naruto-kun."

"Huh? How do you know my name nee-chan?"

"I was in the Hokage's office just now when you burst in there."

"Okay, so what do you want with me, surely your love of ramen isn't the only reason that you are here?"

"Well, I won't lie. I truly was hungry, but you're right. I have received permission from your Hokage to train you a bit." Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief as Sayuri continued, "of course anything that I teach you needs to be vetted by the Hokage, but I will at least train you in the basics of my ninjutsu style."

Naruto asked, "Ninjutsu style?" unsure what Sayuri meant by that.

"Okay, I'll start with an overall explanation of the ninja arts since, according to the Sandaime you have not had anyone explain them to you."

"Sure I know what the ninja arts are, shinobi utilise ninjutsu, hell, it's even in the name."

"Yes well, I'm sure that there are some people that believe that, but there is even more to the ninja arts than simply ninjutsu."

Naruto asked, "Really?" astounded that his knowledge was so lacking.

"Yes. As you said, shinobi utilise ninjutsu, you are also right when you say that that is how we came to be known as ninja. But there are also other ninja arts, some slightly more common than the others. The three that all shinobi should know of are Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu."

"Genjutsu and Taijutsu?"

"Yes. The Genjutsu discipline is, as the name suggests, relates to putting the opponent in an Illusion and you will rarely find a shinobi that specialises in it. Taijutsu is hand to hand, or melee, combat. The rarer arts are Kekkei Ninjutsu and Fūinjutsu, along with Kekkai Ninjutsu, there is also Jikūkan Ninjutsu and, then there is also the type that I shall be teaching you, Hana Ninpō."

"Hana Ninpō? Sorry, but compared to all the others it sounds kind of weak."

"Yes, well watch this," Sayuri said as she looked at a red lily that was growing in a garden nearby. Sayuri went through a set of handseals and said, "Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō." The red, six pronged flower shot towards them at a high speed and embedded itself in the Ramen Stand. Naruto tapped it and found that, even though it still had the feel of a flower about it, it was incredibly hard. When he tapped the end of one of the petals he found that it was also very, very, sharp. Sayuri asked, "Still think it's weak?" Naruto shook his head dumbfounded at how Sayuri had done what she had. "Oh right! I think I forgot to tell you, I'm Sayuri, a Jounin from the Land of Vegetables."

"Wait, the Land of Vegetables? Why would you want to help me?"

"Well, I see a lot of me in you. You see I was orphaned at a very young age too. I was all alone until I was put in a Genin team with two of my classmates. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"I see," Naruto said, looking solemnly at his ramen. He then looked at Sayuri and said, "Thanks, Sayuri nee-chan." They both then rushed through the rest of their ramen and headed to a training ground.

Author's Note

Kekkei Ninjutsu – Bloodline Ninjutsu  
>Fūinjutsu – Sealing Techniques<br>Kekkai Ninjutsu – Barrier Ninjutsu  
>Jikūkan Ninjutsu – Space-Time Ninjutsu<br>Hana Ninpō – Flower Ninja Art


	3. Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō pt1

When they got to the training ground Sayuri found that there weren't actually any flowers for them to use to practice with. Naruto said, "Uhh...Sayuri-nee-chan, this field doesn't seem to be useful for this training."

"Yes, it would appear that way wouldn't it?" Sayuri said, smiling knowingly.

"Then why are you..."

"Watch this," Sayuri said as she started going through a set of handseals. When she was done she placed one hand on the ground and said, "Doton: Hana Hōmai." As she announced the name of her jutsu the ground, previously flowerless, was now a field of flowers.

Naruto's eyes widened and said, "Teach me that!"

Sayuri said, "All in good time, first of all, you're going to learn 'Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō'"

"Alright, so how do I do it?"

"First off, for almost every jutsu in existence there is a corresponding set of handseals."

"Handseals?"

"Yes. There are twelve basic ones that everyone learns at a Ninja Academy. On top of that, for every elemental ninjutsu there are corresponding, unique, seals that are used in conjunction with the twelve seals that you learn in the academy. Hana Ninpō is different. Hana Ninpō Ninjutsu utilises seals that are not taught in the academy, nor are they used in the creation of any elemental ninjutsu."

"They're unique?"

"That's what I just said isn't it? Well, even so I suppose that to expand the art of Hana Ninpō at some point the twelve common ones will need to be integrated."

"Expand it?" Naruto asked, unsure of what his sensei meant.

"Yes. You see, when something remains unchanged for an extended period of time it stagnates and becomes, basically, useless."

"Unusable? Why?"

"Because others shall have found ways to counter what you are trying to do, leaving you at too severe a disadvantage, resulting anywhere from absolute defeat to death."

"I see," Naruto said.

"Well, leave that for another time. Like I said, Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō comes first; now, do as I do," Sayuri said as she made a handseal that Naruto incorrectly copied. Sayuri said, no no, your index finger needs to be right out, not half-bent like that. Naruto corrected his index finger and asked, "Like this Sayuri-sensei?" Sayuri replied, "Yes, like that. Now, this one," Sayuri did another, different, handseal, which Naruto copied, this time doing it exactly as Sayuri did. Sayuri explained, "now, when you use your chakra at the same time as you do those handseals the flower will rise up, off of their stem. This can be done with a sword as well, but I can't use one. Alright, for now I want you to work on making those two handseals perfectly, alright?"

"Hai, Sayuri-sensei," Naruto said as he started to work on the first one under the watchful eye of Sayuri.

Author's Notes:

Doton: Hana Hōmai = Earth Release: Flower-Embedding

Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō = Flower Shuriken: Falling Blossoms and Scattering Leaves


	4. Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō pt2

The next day Naruto and Sayuri met up at the same training ground. When Naruto got there through he took a step back upon seeing his sensei. He did this because whereas the previous day Sayuri had been wearing her Jounin uniform, which consisted of long, green pants, long sleeved shirt, calf-high open toed, boots and a flak jacket, this time though she was wearing her training clothes(1). Naruto said, "Wow sensei, you look different today."

"Very astute Naruto-kun. Yesterday I was representing my country on a political mission, so I was informed that I must wear the typical Jounin uniform of my country, but today it is different. This is what I usually wear."

"Oh, alright; so what do I do now?"

"Well, since you got the handseals perfect yesterday today I want you to work on transferring from the first seal to the second flawlessly."

"Hai sensei," Naruto said as he started making handseals. Due to the practice the previous day Naruto could transfer between the seals by twelve o'clock.

When it was twelve o'clock Sayuri said, "Alright, now that you can do that, time for lunch." Sayuri and Naruto went to Ichiraku Ramen Stand for lunch, where they each had ten bowls of ramen. When they returned to the training ground Sayuri said, "Alright, now that you have mastered the handseals required for Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō, before we continue on I need to explain to you the basics of chakra."

"Chakra, what's that?"

"Chakra is considered to be the energy that exists in all living things. Chakra as a whole can be divided into two separate energies, physical energy, inherent in every cell of your body, as well as spiritual energy that you gain by exercise and experience, in other words, training. The spiritual energy is what gives form to jutsu. Many people need to work hard to increase the physical energy within their bodies, you and I though, we only need to gain the spiritual energy as we have the physical energy in spades. This can be rather unfortunate for people like us since having too much of one type can hamper the control of your chakra overall."

"Why is that?"

"Because..hmm...It's kind of hard to explain, so how about this, you know how if the broth in ramen severely outweighs the noodles the noodles will get all soggy before you can get to them?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, suppose that the broth is the physical energy and the noodles are spiritual energy. If their physical energy far outweighs a Shinobi's spiritual energy their jutsu will either not have enough physical energy, causing the ninja to try and force the jutsu, or too much, causing the jutsu to be overpowered and, for simpler jutsu, cause them to fail, for higher level jutsu, it will cause them to be really, really, overpowered, causing the shinobi to use up their chakra too quickly and no longer be able to continue."

"Wait! Use up their chakra?"

"Yes, each person has a limited amount of chakra that they can use. The limit can be increased with training of course, but a limit will still exist. When shinobi use up all of their chakra they contract a condition known as chakra exhaustion, which can, although not limited to, cause the shinobi to feel incredible pain and even fall unconscious for a period of time that they need to regain their chakra to a sufficient level. Various jutsu are formed when a shinobi combines the physical and spiritual energies. Understand?"

"Basically I have two types of energy inside me and, to use Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō I need to use them both at the same time?"

"Yes, exactly right. Okay, now before you try to do that you need to be able to gain access to it. So I want you to put your hands together like this," Sayuri said, bringing her hands together in front of her chin with her two index fingers pointing up. "And then I want you to try and pull forth the chakra that is flowing inside you, like this," as she said this Sayuri was engulfed by a blue aura of flickering energy.

Naruto's eyes widened in amazement and said, "Right," as he held his hands up like Sayuri was doing. He then closed his eyes and tried to feel for something, anything, inside him that felt like what he was feeling coming from his sensei. He found nothing. He said, "Nope, sorry, not feeling anything."

Sayuri said, "Well I wasn't exactly expecting you to get it the first time that you tried to do it."

"Oh," Naruto said.

"Now, try again," Sayuri said encouraging Naruto to continue on.

Author's Notes:

(1) A link to Sayuri's training clothes and appearance is available in my user profile.

I am aware that the concepts of chakra that I have put forth here may be different from that used in the anime/manga, it merely makes more sense to me this way.


	5. Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō pt3

Two weeks later found Naruto and Sayuri back at the training ground that they used with Naruto surrounded by an aura of yellow-green flickering energy. Naruto dropped his hold of the energy and collapsed, panting at the exertion. Sayuri walked over to her apprentice, looked down at him, and said, "Congratulations, you just did what would normally take someone at least three months to learn in barely two weeks." Naruto chuckled at receiving Sayuri's praise. "Well, get up, it'd time for lunch."

After lunch Naruto was still pretty tired but had regained more than enough chakra to continue training with. When they got to the training grounds Sayuri did a few handseals and said, "Doton: Hana Hōmai," causing the field to be covered in flowers. Sayuri said, "Alright, now that we have got that taken care of, I want you to do those handseals that I taught you the first day, okay?" "Sure thing," Naruto said, doing the handseals. Seeing Naruto do transition between them perfectly Sayuri said, "alright, now you remember how you used your chakra before?"

Naruto replied, "Yes."

"Good, now I want you to use your chakra and focus it into the seals that you just did, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Naruto said as he gathered his chakra and did the handseals, sending the chakra to his hands. When he was done, not only did all of the flowers that Sayuri created fly up, into the air and stop, but when they did, the flowers shredded.

Sayuri's eyes widened at the sight and said, "Alright, maybe not so much chakra next time, eh?"

"Right...sorry about that," Naruto nervously said.

"Alright then, Doton: Hana Hōmai."

The field newly filled with flowers, Naruto went through the handseals, focusing his chakra through the seals. This time only two flowers broke from their stems, immediately falling to the ground. Naruto said, "Okay, that was too little." He then went through the handseals again, and again, and again, each time with little success.

Two days later, with no progress being made, Sayuri said, "alright, I was going to have you do this after you had learned Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō, but apparently you have the same problems with chakra control as I did. So, before you continue on with this jutsu, you will learn to climb a tree without using your hands."

Three weeks later Naruto could stick to the tree for five meters before falling. Sayuri had him try Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō again, this time it worked. The flowers rose up, off of their stems and hovered in mid-air. Sayuri said, "That's great, now all you need to do is extend your hand in the direction that you wish the flowers to go. As you do that the flowers will harden to become like metal, now extend your arm towards that tree over there," Sayuri indicated a tree on their right. Naruto extended his hand toward the tree, causing the flowers to harden and fly towards the tree. When they hit the tree the flowers embedded themselves in it. Naruto walked up to the tree and touched one of the Hana Shuriken and found that, while it still had the velvety feel of the petals of an ordinary flower, they were as hard as steel. He exclaimed, "It's so hard!"

Sayuri said, "Well, it would make some pretty pathetic shuriken if they weren't. So, do you want to continue practicing with it now, or should we go on to the next one?"

"Hmm...I think that I want to continue practicing with it for now, we can start on the next one tomorrow."

Sayuri smiled and said, "alright then, we can start on Doton: Hana Hōmai tomorrow. I'll see you then...oh yes, one thing. Whatever you do, once you start Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō, do _not_ send them downwards. It will not only make you look like a dumbass, it will actually target your feet."

"My feet? Why?"

"Think about it. Flowers are normally attached to the ground by their roots. When you gain control of the flowers through the use of Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō, you become their 'roots' and you are attached to the ground by your feet. So unless you like bullet dancing, don't do it."

"Hai, Sayuri-sensei."

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow then."


End file.
